A conventional surface mount connector of a horizontal type has a connector receiving space opened in a direction parallel to a surface of a circuit board. Contacts extend from a mating positioned in the connector receiving space to a terminating end outside the connector receiving space. The terminating ends are generally surface-mounted on the circuit board by soldering.
The contacts extend outward from of a terminating end of a connector housing, allowing the soldered terminating end fillets to undergo visual inspection, both from above the circuit board and the center of gravity of the surface mount connector upon mounting.
The connector housing is divided into a contact receiving portion holding contacts and a hooded mating portion to be mated with a mating connector (See for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-117219 A). The contact receiving portion and the hooded mating portion are assembled to each other using an elastic member made of metal.
However, the convention design is difficult to position the contacts in multiple rows within the connector receiving space while drawing all the contacts out the terminating end of the housing. This is because it is difficult to draw all the contacts behind the housing in view of interference between contacts on the rear face side of the housing, constraint of a space on a circuit board required for surface mounting, and the like.
Therefore, though it is possible to achieve a multi-row configuration by folding some of contacts back on the rear face side of the housing and drawing them forward, it is difficult to inspect fillets of solders due to the obstruction by the hooded mating portion of the housing surrounding the contacts within the connector receiving space. Further, since it is necessary to position the hooded mating portion in front of the mating ends of the contacts within the connector receiving space, in order to prevent damage to the contacts, the mating ends of the contacts are concealed below the hood.
Alternatively, if the contacts are made longer, such that the mating ends are exposed from a mating end of the hooded mating portion, co-planarity (uniformity of the lowermost faces of the contacts) of the contacts is difficult.
As shown in JP 2009-117219 A, when the conventional housing is divided into the contact receiving portion and the hooded mating portion and mating ends of the contacts extending forward are further exposed from the contact receiving portion, a solder fillet inspection can be performed easily and the hooded mating portion can be assembled to the contact receiving portion after inspection. Since the hooded mating portion has a necessary length and it is unnecessary to extend the lead portions of the contacts forward, it is possible to prevent damage to the contacts while also maintaining their co-planarity.
However, in the conventional connector disclosed in JP 2009-117219 A, the number of parts increases, directly corresponding to the elastic member for assembling the contact receiving portion and the hooded mating portion of the housing to each other, which results in cost increase.
Further, when the conventional housing is divided to pieces, the contact receiving portion and the hooded mating portion rattle, due to a force or vibrations applied when a mating connector is plugged or unplugged, requiring these housing parts to be assembled securely.
In view of the problems described above, there is a need for a surface mount connector where inspection of the mating ends of contacts is easy, even if a multi-row configuration of the contacts is adopted, and the various individual components of the housing can be securely assembled using a reduced number of parts.